dianaiad wrote:

RP wrote:

dianaiad wrote:


Oscar_Lives wrote:


Most Christians who critique the Mormon view of God do so from
a strictly biblical perspective. Christian apologists have
correctly pointed out that Mormon theology conflicts with biblical
doctrine in a number of important areas, including the nature of
God, the plan of salvation, and the nature of man.[1]


snip rest of autobot reposting of something this complete and utter
idiot has posted in its entirety several times, often within the SAME
THREAD, and that I, to my utter shame, actually answered once, point by
point. Man, I will NEVER learn not to feed the trolls

Regarding the title of this thread: Mormon is/was a man, or, if you
don't believe that he existed, a fictional character in a book. Either
way, he can't be a cult. Mormon ISM can be.

In fact, it is a cult. So, by the way, is Catholicism, every single
sect of Protestantism, and every other 'ism' there is out there. You
might try looking up the definition of a word before you pull something
this utterly brainless: cult: a system of community of religious
worship and ritual. Another definition of 'cult' that is nonreligious
is " obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a
person, principle, or thing."

Of course, I like the following definitions much better:
bullet

"...if you believe in it, it is a religion or perhaps 'the' religion;
and if you do not care one way or another about it, it is a sect;
but if you fear and hate it, it is a cult." Leo Pfeffer. A humorous
quotation, but one that is uncomfortably close to reality.
bullet

"Cults are claimed to be deceitful. They are claimed to be harmful to
their members. They are claimed to be undermining American values.
Cults are claimed to be just about every bad thing in the book these
days, and with the pervasive images of Manson and Jim Jones hanging
over us, any group that is called a cult is immediately associated with
those two people." J. Gordon Melton.
bullet

"My working definition of a cult is a group that you don't like, and I
say that somewhat facetiously, but at the same time, in fact, that is
my working definition of a cult. It is a group that somebody doesn't
like. It is a derogatory term, and I have never seen it redeemed from
the derogatory connotations that it picked up in the sociological
literature in the 1930s." J. Gordon Melton.

From http://www.religioustolerance.org/cults.htm

In other words, you blithering idiot, "cult" is simply you being
childish and letting us know that you don't like the Mormons. We get
that already.

So I have a suggestion for you; go fix somebody's airconditioner.
Hopefully not mine; I wouldn't let you within fifty feet of my swamp
cooler and I SURE wouldn't allow you anywhere near a pipe that carried
natural gas. You would overload the system.

Diana

It was indeed wasted verbiage. I could have summed it up thusly:
Mormon's are cultist morons.


Indeed, you summed his post up succinctly. I do differ with his (and
yours, it seems) opinion, however.


OTOH, you should rethink your definition of cult. You aren't even wrong.


Then why should I rethink it?


You can't simply make up your own definition of a well defined term just
because you think you have an enlightening twist, and nor can those that
you quoted.


Of course I can. Whatsistwit did it. Or are you one of those
prescriptive, rather than descriptive, linguistic curmudgeons?

cult

cult (kùlt) noun
1.a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist
or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner
under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader. b. The
followers of such a religion or sect.
2.A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3.The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony
and ritual.
4.A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to
have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a
person, principle, or thing. b. The object of such devotion.
6.An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or
intellectual interest.

noun, attributive
Often used to modify another noun: a cult figure; cult films.

[Latin cultus, worship, from past participle of colere, to cultivate.]
- cul´tic or cult´ish adjective
- cult´ism noun
- cult´ist noun

Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English
Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic
version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and
distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States.
All rights reserved.


Doncha just love the internet? Here, I'll do you one better; here is
the definition from the definitive(yes, that was deliberate) English
Language Dictionary, the OED (That's "Oxford English Dictionary")

1. Worship; reverential homage rendered to a divine being or beings.
Obs. (exc. as in sense 2).

2. a. A particular form or system of religious worship; esp. in
reference to its external rites and ceremonies.
b. Now freq. used attrib. by writers on cultic ritual and the
archæology of primitive cults.

3. transf. Devotion or homage to a particular person or thing, now
esp. as paid by a body of professed adherents or admirers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DRAFT ADDITIONS SEPTEMBER 2004


cult, n. and a.2

Designating cultural phenomena with a strong, often enduring appeal
to a relatively small audience; (also) designating this appeal or
audience, or any resultant success; fringe, non-mainstream. Hence:
possessing a fashionable or exclusive cachet; spec. (of artistic
figures or works) having a reputation or influence disproportionate to
their limited public exposure or commercial success. Freq. in cult
figure, status.
A relatively small group of people having religious beliefs or
practices regarded by others as strange or sinister.

I cut the etymology, timeline and quotes for space. However, I think
that you can see that my 'personal definition' isn't quite as out of
line as you claim it is, especially since even the American Heritage
Dictionary will recognize the OED as the trump expert in these matters.


_____________________________________________

In short, a cult consists of a group of schizophrenic individuals
hanging upon every word of yet another schizophrenic and/or psychopathic
individual, who is in turn usually the so-called founder and/or leader.


In short, you are correct....but only partially. You are, in fact,
commiting a logical fallacy, one of composition. You are assuming that
because a certain type of cult has a set of attributes, all cults have
those attributes. That's like saying that because some Ford Mustangs
are red, that all cars are red.


You're damn right its a derogatory term, and well deserved by those who
are members of said cults. Now take this religious crap somewhere else,
such as perhaps alt.****ing.lunatic


Actually, I'm not the one that brought it in here.

But you seemed to be defending the opponents of the OP's post.
Nitpicking terminology is seldom fruitful. We've just seen the evidence
of that, twice Since we all know where each other stand on the
issues now, I'm done. This isn't the place for it. If the post was
flaming another contributor then the religious content is secondary to
the intent of the post, but to get into philosophical/theological debate
is OT of an OT subject--doubly not acceptable in any topic specific
groups such as these. Good luck to everyone with their beliefs, just
don't force them down my throat or I'll force them right back up your ass

hvacrmedic



hvacrmedic